The Bohdana self-propelled artillery system is one of the flagships of Ukraine's defence industry. It is a large 155mm gun mounted on a lorry, enabling its operators to strike the enemy precisely and quickly change position.

Say what you will about drones being terrifying, they are, but the idea of being ordered to assault a defensive line with 52 caliber 155mm howitizers terrifies me way more.

There is no defense against a 155mm shell that comes screaming out of the sky with no warning, all you can do is to stay very hidden until you are spotted and then NEVER stop moving once your location has been revealed to the enemy. The problem with this of course is that moving quickly near the enemy is a process of constantly rolling the dice about whether things are going to go south for you before you can react or not.

For example, in the process of trying to avoid an artillery barrage by moving quickly, one could easily run their entire formation straight into a machine gun nest with no cover around. Even if a catastrophe like that doesn’t happen you become far more vulnerable to drones when moving quickly than when hidden, entrenched or in a group of situationally aware troops.

Think about it as a russian, imagine sneaking through bushes and then cowering in a shallow trench with the knowledge in the back of your head that if a Bohdana anywhere within 30km gets the bead on you quick enough, you are toast if you don’t run and if you do run in a panic you are breakfast for Ukrainian FPVs.

  • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
    2·
    3 days ago

    I am actually not sure about the towed howitzer

    It literally says it in the article. There are no electronics required to operate it.

    “There are no fuel or oil tanks here, and no electronics. The gun is entirely mechanical. It is simply metal that can be repaired even at the firing position,” emphasised Chief of Staff “John”.

    The gun is equipped with mechanical aiming mechanisms.

    • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzOP
      1·
      3 days ago

      Yes, there are definitely bohdanas being made this way but my point is more like this is an optional budget option on a factory model that is designed to also be equipped with advanced electronics.

      In an entrenched towed howitizer battery the idea of what a “digital fire control system” becomes abstract. Firing always comes down to humans pulling the gun out and maneuvering it into a firing position calculated beforehand and translated into a simple set of instructions that can be rapidly accomplished by the crew. The person sitting nearby with a computer acquiring targets, finding firing solutions and assigning them is using digital equipment though so… yeah I guess the cannons are totally analog but that kind of misses the point to me is all I am saying. Does only calling it a digital system if the computer is physically bolted to the gun really make sense if you think about how it is being used?

      I agree with you that it is badass these can be used in a totally analog way, I guess it is a well established precedent with howitzers but also a lot of countries have foolishly convinced themselves towed howitzers are obsolete which I believe deeply misunderstands how towed howitzers are actually utilized in a critical fashion in modern wars.

      • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
        2·
        3 days ago

        The way they talk about these in the article, I don’t think they view them as budget, and view them very strongly as a strength. When you incorporate the digital aspects (which is also very cool) 1 bad hit from a drone and it’s potentially out of service for an extended period of time.

        Yes the targeting instructions are still digital and allow for very fast coordination, but that laptop is also easily replaced if destroyed.

        They talk about these things taking multiple drone hits and being back in service a couple days later.